Bob Barker came out to a monstrous pop from the crowd. He says we have a game to play and invites the contestants down to the stage area. Santino Marella, Jillian Hall, IRS and Chris Jericho are the contestants. The item we’re playing for is a Smackdown 10th anniversary DVD. All the contestants make their bids. Jericho is really difficult and obviously doesn’t want to be there. After some back and forth with Barker, he says the word ‘one’ and Barker cuts him off and says Jericho bids a dollar. Jericho wins the competition and is sent to the ring where he’s got a chance to win a big prize, a trip to Hawaii.

MVP comes out to face him.

Trip To HawaiiChris Jericho vs. MVP

MVP went to the legs to try and take Jericho down. They grappled around a bit before Jericho was able to grab a hammer lock. MVP fought his way out and hit a clothesline and then a few forearms to the face.

Jericho fought back out of the corner with a head butt only to get taken down on a whip attempt and get nailed with a sit out double drop kick. Porter got back dropped to the ring apron, but avoided the swooping Jericho, who was looking for a drop kick. Jericho flew past MVP and splattered onto the floor.

****Commercial****

Jericho had MVP in a chin lock when we came back. MVP fought out and charged looking for a running boot, but Jericho side stepped him and sent him crashing to the floor. Jericho tossed MVP back into the ring and began kicking him around on the mat.

MVP fought back with lefts and rights, but Jericho reversed one of the blows and whipped MVP to the buckles hard. Jericho looked for a body slam, only for MVP to cradle him for a two count. Jericho kicked out and immediately lashed back towards MVP, hitting him with a lariat in the back of the head for a two count.

Jericho slapped on a rear chin lock only for MVP to fight out again. This time he made up some ground and connected with a series of clotheslines before whipping Jericho to the buckles. He went to the second rope and missed a clothesline before coming back and connecting on his second time through for a two count.

Jericho booted MVP hard in the face and hit a bulldog before back off a bit. Jericho looked for the Lion sault only for MVP to hit a right hand and a jaw breaker. MVP went for a ballin’ elbow, but Jericho grabbed him by the legs and rolled him over into the walls of Jericho. MVP powered up and went for a roll up but only got two. Jericho charged him, only to eat a huge big boot for a molten near fall.

MVP looked for a play maker only Jericho to counter with a whip and look for a code breaker. MVP blocked him this time though, and Jericho crashed to the mat. MVP rolled him up and scored the victory.

Winner: MVP via pin fall

****Commercial****

Bob Barker and Kelly are in the back putting over the Foundation he’s supporting. DX come in and Barker hears them rant and rave about nothing and thinks they should blow off some steam. He has them ‘spin the wheel’ so they can have opponents tonight. Randy Orton and Chris Masters come up.

****Commercial****

Chavo Guererro is in the ring. If he wins, he gets a new car.

Chavo Guererro vs. Evan Bourne

Bourne got taken down before Chavo brought him quickly to his feet and hit him with a European uppercut. He hit a big kick on the top rope and scored a two count. He slapped on an abdominal stretch and cinched it in.

Bourne countered a body slam attempt for a one count, but Chavo immediately nailed him in the mid section with a kick to the gut. Bourne responded with kicks of his own and then a hurricanranna and a clothesline. Bourne ducked under a clothesline attempt and hit a lariat to the back of the head off the second rope for a two count.

The two brawled into the corner only for Bourne to hit a big kick to the head. He went for a big hurricanranna off the top rope, but Chavo ducked out of the way. The cover attempt didn’t work. Chavo hit three amigos and then a brain buster on the third before heading to the top rope. As he got to the top rope for the frog splash, Hornswoggle showed up and sprayed him with a water gun. Chavo jumped down and shoved him across the ring, only to get rolled up for a three count.

Winner: Evan Bourne via pin fall

****Commercial****

Cody Rhodes came out to the ring for his match and cut a promo. Cody Rhodes said he was a main eventer and that was thanks to Randy Orton, not Dusty. He said Dusty was an excellent father, but there was a choice. He said he had to choose between family and career. When he made Triple H or HBK submit, people would realize he made the right choice. In fact, he’d make John Cena tap out right now. Cody said there wasn’t anything this son wouldn’t do for his career.

John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes

Cody grabbed a headlock only for Cody to boot him in the face. Cena looked for an FU but Cody countered with a DDT attempt, only for Cena to completely toss Rhodes like a baby across the ring.

****Commercial****

We came back to Cena going for a cover for a two count. Cody fled to the ropes to buy some space before slowly rising to his feet. Cena pounced on Rhodes and hit a high back body drop that sent Rhodes to the outside to catch yet another breather. Cena chased him out and was tripped up and crashed face first into the announce table. Cody hit a series of strikes on Cena before Cena countered a punch attempt and hit a belly to belly suplex.

Cena charged Cody in the corner only to eat a big boot and a big lariat for a two count. Cody stomped away on Cena in the corner before going for a snap mare. The two jockeyed for position in a submission hold, but neither got anywhere. Finally, Rhodes hit a side Russian leg sweep before hitting a short-arm clothesline.

Cody wrapped Cena up into a hammer lock/camel clutch combo that Cena was eventually able to power out of. Cena hit a huge right hand but missed the charge in the corner. Cody subdued his opponent to the mat and slapped on a Fujiwara arm bar. Cena powered out of the hold and Cody missed a drop kick.

Cena hit a series of shoulder tackles and a blockbuster to put him back in control. He went to the top rope seemingly looking for the leg drop. Rhodes saw it coming and ducked out of the way and went for a figure four. Cena blocked it a bit and then twisted the ankle over into an STFU. Randy Orton ran down and caused the DQ.

Winner: John Cena via DQ

Cena tripped Orton up and almost locked him in the STFU but Orton ran off. He his an FU on Cody as a statement and mugged for Orton in the ring.

****Commercial****

Chicago White Sox catcher AJ Pierzynski is named as the newest contestant. They bid on a Wrestlemania travel package and Santino wins.

Body Slam MatchSantino Marella vs. Big Show

Santino tries body slamming him, but it doesn’t work. Show slams him and that’s that.

Winner: Everyone

Barker announced that Show would have another match against a new opponent…. Mark Henry.

****Commercial****

Body Slam MatchMark Henry vs. Big Show

Show hit a kick to the gut and went for a slam. But Henry battled back with some head butts and clubbing blows. Henry attempted a slam, but Show returned the favor and beat him to the punch. Show attempted to work Henry’s back so as to make it easier to slam him.

Show hit a bunch of rights to the kidneys, but failed in his slam attempt. He charged Henry in the corner and ate a big boot, only for Henry to eat an elbow himself. The two went back and forth a bit more before Henry finally gained the leverage and connected for the win.

Winner: Mark Henry

MVP came out to the ring afterwards to celebrate.

Joey Matthews is interviewing Bob Barker in the back.

****Commercial****

DX vs. Chris Masters & Randy Orton

Masters and HBK locked it up and Masters battered Michaels back. He got whipped to the ropes and threw on the breaks when he almost got SCM.

****Commercial****

Orton was working over HBK who broke away from him and managed a tag to Triple H. Triple H hit a face buster and a body slam for a two count before tagging Michaels in. HBK whipped Orton across the ring only to eat a big boot to the grill. Masters tagged in and began stomping away on the DX member.

Michaels fought back with some chops before Masters reversed a whip and then uncorked a big back breaker on him. Orton tagged in and worked over Michaels’ back, working an Irish whip and his inverted back breaker. Orton wasted Michaels with a standing drop kick to the grill for a two count before working a rear chin lock. Michaels worked his way out and hit a forearm before kipping up and tagging in Triple H.

Triple H worked over Masters, hitting a big spine buster. He fought off the onrushing Orton and tagged Michaels back in who flew to the top rope and hit his elbow. Triple H and Orton brawled out to the floor as Michaels tuned up the band. He went for the kick, but Masters ducked under and locked in the master lock. He had Michaels going until Triple H broke free from Orton and tackled Masters from behind. Michaels hit SCM and that was all she wrote.

Winners: DX via pin fall

After the match, DX and Legacy brawled to the back. Orton was in the ring and cut a mini-promo on John Cena, who came out to the stage and rushed the ring. They brawled around the outside of the ring until Cena followed Orton back into the ring. Orton quickly grabbed him and DDT’d him to the mat before hitting an RKO on the chair to Cena. He stood over Cena and said on Sunday, he’d make him say ?I Quit?.

RAW THOUGHTS

Show Thoughts– Tonight’s show was pretty much great start to finish.

Bob Barker was a huge hit as special guest host to be sure, interacting well with the wrestlers and bringing a lot of humor to the proceedings. Its kind of felt like the WWE has been going for a ‘Muppet Show’ feel to Raw, but this was the first week that it really worked as all the pieces seemed to fit in the right places. Santino Marella has absolutely turned into ?Gonzo? as he’s the guy responsible for bringing the entertainment value in with the celebrities and usually delivers well. Jillian is a lower-key version of Miss Piggy. I wish we had an ?Animal?.

The whole show was solid, so I suppose this week I’ll just give some random thoughts.

Randy Orton looked like he just got his thingy stuck in warm apple pie tonight after destroying John Cena. There’s no one who comes even remotely close to Orton in terms of portraying their character. From the gyrations to the selling, the facial expressions….. its all there.

The Jericho/Big Show-MVP/Mark Henry feud has been built beautifully, with both sides being really well established. Henry is a match for the Big Show, while MVP may not be as talented as Jericho, but given some thinking on his part, COULD beat him. They’ve done a good job of protecting the Jerishow team’s credibility while really establishing the challengers as legit threats.

Chris Masters looked like a million bucks tonight, despite Triple H and Shawn Michaels not really giving him a whole lot. This whole ?work my back then I blow it off? match from Michaels completely sucks. There’s nothing wrong with repetition. Just make sure its ‘good’ repletion in that multiple parties benefit… which isn’t the case…

The whole show was solid tonight from top to bottom. Good matches, great segments, good interviews, etc. Barker really helped ‘take the show over his knee’. It was good stuff.

WWE Champion: Randy Orton 13-12-5, 34 pts. (Last Week: WWE Champion)— Orton’s body language is probably better than anyone’s. He look like he blew the biggest load in his life after hitting the DDT on Cena. He’s a total creep show and its great.

United States Champion: Kofi Kingston 18-4-1, 34 points (Last Week: US Champion)— Not in action.

1. John Cena 20-11-4, 43 points. (Last Week: 1)– Cena did a good job carrying Rhodes to a fun TV match. I want to see some more ‘bully’ in Cena though. Especially against these punk kids.

2. Triple H 7-6-3, 10 Points (Last Week: 2)– It was weird, but he was kind of ‘just there’ tonight. I wish every promo didn’t have to be some sort of ‘insider’ remark though. Seriously.

3. Mark Henry, 9-1, 17 Points (Last Week: 4)— Mark’s getup is awful, but man, the dude brings the goods in the ring these days. Very methodical and his big man offense is some of the best on TV these days.

4. Big Show 7-10-1, 13 Points (Last Week: 3)–Decent match with Henry tonight. I’m really looking forward to seeing the interactions on pay per view. They’ve done a really good job of putting Henry and MVP over as legit threats to the belts.

5. Cody Rhodes 11-12-3, 14 points (Last Week: 4)— Cody looked good tonight. Cody is an antics machine, but in a good way. He’s not going to be a great brawler or counter wrestling, so he just turns up the volume in the bumping and stalling department. Works for me.

6. Ted Dibiase, Jr. 10-9-3, 11 Points (Last Week: 5)–See Rhodes.

7. MVP 10-7-2, 18 Points (Last Week: 8)–Jericho seems to have effectively ‘righted’ the ship on MVP these past few weeks. I’m not convinced MVP has turned any kind of corners yet, but Jericho’s been a blessing for him. His spots have been a lot better in terms of their lay out, etc.

8. Shawn Michaels 9-3, 14 pts. (Last Week: 9)–Getting your back torn apart for an entire match only to kip up like nothing appends isn’t an effective way of putting your opponent over.

9. The Miz 5-8-2, 9 Points (Last Week: 7)— Not in action.

10. Evan Bourne, 3-5, 6 Points (Last Week: NR) — Solid win in a sure-fire match up for Evan. He’s being used on TV sparingly, but his appearances have been strong.